


The Dragon and the Thief

by Colombenoire4hope



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Criminal husbands, Dragon AU, Dragon Mick, Gold-spinning Len, Lewis Snart's A+ Parenting, M/M, Matchmaker Lisa, coldwave, fairy tale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-10 11:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7843609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colombenoire4hope/pseuds/Colombenoire4hope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day, Mick's lonely dragon routine is interrupted by a kid showing up and demanding he go kidnap her brother.</p><p>“You want me to what?”</p><p>“You heard me. I want you to go kidnap my brother.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Dragon and the Thief

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a one shot but somehow, it got away from me...
> 
> Enjoy!

“You want me to what?”

“You heard me. I want you to go kidnap my brother.”

Mick stared down at the brat looking defiantly up at him, a girl knee high to a grasshopper who despite her size did not seem intimidated in the slightest by the fact she was facing a dragon that could swallow her whole. Mick was slightly offended. 

“Why?” he groaned. 

“Because where he is has a lot of gold. And you like gold. And a kidnapping will do good for your reputation of terrifying dragon.” 

Mick sat up on his hinge legs, puffing his chest and tilting his head to the side to examine the kid and watched half impressed as she held her ground.

“What’s your name, kid?” he grunted 

“What’s it to you?” she demanded

“Humour me” 

The girl shifted slightly, considering her options.

“I’m Lisa.” She answered, finally.

“Well, Lisa, answer me this: What makes you think I’m not just going to go there, take the gold, burn the place down and leave your brother there?” 

For the first time, Lisa showed signs of unease, biting her lip nervously and eyes widening slightly, before she got hold of herself again and raised her chin, apparently coming to a decision. 

“My brother can spin gold out of straw.” She announced.

Oh. Now Mick was definitely interested. 

)0(

Mick gave Lisa some food to keep her busy and left her in his cave as he flew off, confident that her brother would be leverage enough for her not to try anything funny. The timber framed manor she had directed him to stood alone on a hill, far from any significant source of water and poorly protected. Mick smirked and lunged, roaring to announce his presence. 

Before anyone had time to react, he had set the main turrets and the rampart on fire. Mick circled the place a few times, cackling as he coughed breaths of fire, chasing away the few humans who foolishly attempted to stand up to him, melting the stone, and burning the wood. Everything burned beautifully and Mick almost let himself get lost in the flames. However, he had a promise to keep, and a dragon’s word wasn’t just created out of thin air so he shook himself from his trance and flew off again. He easily found the chests overflowing with gold and jewelleries in the main dungeon, but there was no sign of the brother. 

Grunting in frustration, the dragon glided towards the group of terrified humans that were running away and grabbed one that was dressed fancier than the others, guessing he had a more important position in the manor. He landed on what was left of the main tower, gripping it tightly with his claws, and lifted his prisoner to eye level. 

“I’m looking for Lisa’s brother. Where is he?” he rumbled, making sure to show his teeth. 

The man pointed a shaking finger towards the road leading up to the manor to a man on horseback approaching quickly. The rider wore the same crest as the one on the flags and wore expensive jewelry. The owner probably. Good. Mick dropped his victim and jumped off the tower, finishing to destroy it in the process. 

His blood inexplicably ran cold in protective rage when he got close enough to notice the battered figure thrown astride the horse in front of the rider. Mick dropped to the ground, making it shake beneath him and savoured the pale tint of fear that stained the man’s face. He held himself back and gritted his teeth when the man predictably pushed his prisoner to the ground to give himself more movement, but before the rider could pull his sword out Mick whipped him with his tail, throwing him off his horse and into a nearby tree. There was a loud crunch and the body fell to the ground like a broken puppet, the faint rise and fall of the chest the only indication the man had survived. 

Mick couldn’t care less about him and rather turned to the man’s prisoner to take a good look at him, shielding him from his tormentor’s view. 

Yep, that was definitely Lisa’s brother, she had described him to a T, but he was in a very bad shape. Both his hands were tied tightly behind his back, forcing his arms back at a very uncomfortable angle. Every inch of visible skin was painted black, blue and yellow, and a nasty cut on the head was bleeding heavily, staining the side of his face and his torn shirt. His right knee and ankle were twisted in an awkward position. 

The brother had hit the ground heavily when he was shoved off the horse, and unable to brace himself was left slightly stunned by his fall. From his position on the ground, however, he still raised a defiant head, in a manner eerily similar to Lisa, obviously not willing to go down without a struggle – despite already being beaten to a pulp, and Mick found himself staring into cold blue eyes. 

Holy shit. He can weave gold, and he’s hot. Mick was in trouble. 

He shoved the tingling feeling that spiked through him aside and, satisfied that he had found everything he was looking for, Mick decided it was time to leave. Carefully, he wrapped his tail around Lisa’s brother and placed him on his back, humming in satisfaction when the human had enough sense to tuck himself in properly between the scales to avoid falling off. Mick grabbed the chests full of gold between his talons and flew off, sated and quite glad he had decided to listen to the bossy half-pint when she came to him for help. 

)0(

When he arrived to his cave, Lisa was standing at the entrance staring anxiously at the sky. The dragon landed in the small clearing and gently deposited her slightly dazed brother at her feet. 

“Lenny!” she cried.

Lisa sunk to the floor next to him and cradled his head on her folded knees, trying to simultaneously untie him and hold him. 

“Hey, Lise” he mumbled slightly out of breath, smiling up at her as best as he could in his current state. 

Yeah, flying probably hadn’t helped with the bruised ribs. 

Mick dropped off his newly acquired treasure in his hoard before joining the siblings outside. With a flick of his claws, he cut the rope around “Lenny’s” wrists and shifted to his human form. As soon as his hands were freed, Blue Eyes started to try pushing himself up, staring at him with wariness. 

“Who’s he?” he asked his sister. 

“That’s Mick” Lisa replied before Mick could, “I hired him to go rescue you.”

Wait. What? 

“I wasn’t hired” Mick protested.

He was interrupted by Blue Eyes somehow managing to push himself to a standing position, a very impressive feat Mick will admit, only to be overcome by a sudden bout of dizziness. Mick caught him by the waist before he could fall and break something else, and dragged one of his arms around his shoulder for support. He started leading him to his cave, Lisa following close by, but had to tighten his grip when he felt the other try to shrug him off. 

“I can walk.”

Mick snorted. “Sure you can”

“Why do you care anyways?” he huffed.

Hell if I know Mick wanted to say, I just do. Instead, the dragon turned a slightly feral grin towards him. “Can’t weave my gold if you’re dead”

Blue eyes stared at him before slightly smirking back at him, understanding the pretense for what it was, and finally relaxed enough to be moved. 

Huh, Mick liked him already. 

)0(

Mick later learned that Blue Eye’s name was Leonard call – me – Len - not - Leo Snart. Len and Lisa had been trying to escape their father the day Mick had met them. Lewis Snart, the very same man Mick had probably left in a full body cast, had been using Lisa as leverage to force his son into weaving gold for him so he could amass his considerable fortune. The two siblings had made a run for it one of the rare opportunities they were let outside together, but Lewis had quickly caught up using dogs and a dozen of men. Slightly overkill according to Mick, but then again his son seemed like the kind to put up one hell of a fight. Len had led the hunt party away from his sister so she could escape and unfortunately had been caught in the process. Mick felt a surge of rightful satisfaction at the knowledge he had taken both the man’s wealth and the source of it, essentially leaving him with nothing. 

Under Lisa’s care and Mick’s supervision, Len recovered quite rapidly and was soon walking around Mick’s cave like he owned it. He and Lisa had taken over a corner near the entrance and improvised a bed using a few precious fabrics Lisa had dug out of Mick’s hoard. The dragon had grumbled at first, instincts screaming at him to not let anyone touch his stuff, but he still couldn’t resist Lisa’s pleading eyes and was appeased further when the fabrics never actually left his lair. 

When they weren’t snooping around his cave, the Snart siblings were exploring outside, mapping out the area and placing small traps to catch their dinner. Most of the time, though, they followed Mick around as he went through his daily routine which made him slightly self-conscious because he didn’t really do much during his day. Apart from sleeping, hunting and guarding his hoard (and occasionally going out to make it bigger which he hadn’t done since he had the Snarts over), Mick’s only entertainments were lighting fires in the mountain nearby, and visiting a small lake located right above a dormant volcano. He liked swimming there and taking naps in the sun on the rock in the middle of said lake.

At first, Len and Lisa stayed on the beach doing whatever it is humans do on beaches, but Len surprised Mick one day by swimming across all the way to him as soon as he was healed enough to make the attempt. Mick had to use all of his self- restraint not to stare as the human pushed himself up on the rock, stood up to wave at Lisa back on the beach and sat down near Mick, closer than he ever had since the dragon had brought him to his home. Until now, Len had been keeping his distances, observing him quietly and making sure not to draw too much attention to himself. Mick hadn’t really cared. At least he hadn’t made a run for it as soon and he was able to, which was already better than most humans. 

“So, Mick” drawled Len, beautiful eyes focused on him with a barely hidden tint of curiosity “Does your whole lounging in the sun thing mean dragons are cold-blooded? Because I find it slightly contradicting with your fire-breathing thing”

“Humans make water with their mouths, doesn’t mean you don’t need to drink.” Mick grunted back.

Len’s eyes lit up with glee at the response and his lips twitched up, almost forming a smile. Something in Mick clicked in place when he realised this meant he was no longer on Len’s ‘suspicious’ radar. He held on to the pleasant felling as Len started talking about everything and anything. Mick stretched out on the rock and listened. 

This is good.

)0(

A few weeks after Mick had “kidnapped” Len from his father, the siblings were no longer simply a presence he didn’t mind but a permanent addition to his life. Mick had warmed up to them surprisingly fast considering his solitary tendencies and he wasn’t even sure why he liked them so much. 

He should’ve known it wasn’t going to last because Mick had never managed to keep anything good in his life. He comes back from a hunt one morning to find his lair empty.

Usually, Mick never went hunting before dawn because he liked his sleep, but this time he had heard an important cattle passing by that smelled delicious and he hadn’t wanted to risk it being gone by morning. Figures the sibling would take the opportunity to make a run for it.

Mick tried to convince himself that the bitter taste in his mouth was due to having let a guy who could weave gold slip away and not because the closest things he had for friends had thought themselves to be prisoners and ran away. 

Too angry (at himself – why the fuck did he ever think he could -), sleeping on his hoard did nothing to comfort him so Mick flew off. To hunt them down, he told himself. Never mind he wasn’t actually hunting but rather drifting around whilst glowering at the landscape beneath him. Rows of trees, birds flying, bunch of animals running around, Lisa pouting by the lake, a few other creatures – 

Wait.

Mick circled back, suddenly on high alert and landed on the beach by his little lake. It was Lisa. The dragon shifted to human form and carefully approached the girl who was glaring at the lake, knees folded under her chin. It didn’t sound like Lenny to leave his little sister behind. Oh fuck, Mick hopped he didn’t suddenly have to take care of a human child, what the hell would he do with it – he’d probably end up stepping on it by accident and – 

“Hey, Mick” said Lisa. 

Mick crouched down near her and was reassured to see she didn’t seem sad and looked more like she didn’t get what she wanted. Len leaving her behind would probably have given a different result. Or Mick hoped. 

“Hey Lise” he replied slightly hesitant, “Where’s your brother?”

Lisa let go of her knees and turned to him, crossing her arms across her chest and raising her chin, lips stuck in a pout. 

“He went to the nearby town get some stuff. And he wouldn’t let me go with him! ‘Stay with Mick’” She said, deepening her voice in a comical imitation of her brother. “‘I’ll be back by sundown’”

Mick did his best to hide the relief that washed over him. He casually leaning back to sit with his hands supporting him from behind.

“So… what’s the problem?” he asked.

Lisa gaped at him like he had missed something obvious.

“Lenny never left me behind before! He never wanted me alone with…” Lisa’s face suddenly became thoughtful before her eyes widened in realisation. “He didn’t want me alone with anyone else before.”

Her lips stretched in a smirk that had Mick sitting back up in suspicion but Lisa jumped to her feet before he could ask anything else, suddenly cheerful again.

“Come with me, Mick, I need a fire to cook.” She announced.

Mick found himself dragged to his feet as Lisa grabbed him by the hand and urged him to get up. He followed her back to his cave, careful not to hold her hand too tightly and still confused as to what had just happened but a pleased hum thrumming through him as he listened to her talk. 

)0( 

Len got back from his trip slightly before sundown, just as he said he would. Mick had noticed he had a thing for timing everything to the minute, even wondered if it went with the gold weaving thing. When she saw him, Lisa let out a squeal of joy and ran over from where she was watching Mick cook a piece of meat to perfection (“you should show my brother, he can’t heat meat properly to save a life!”). She grabbed some of the stuff her brother was carrying, Len grumbled slightly as he was forced to re-balance himself to compensate for the disappeared weight but still smiled fondly at her.

The siblings laid out their new acquisitions on the floor of the cave, Mick watching curiously over their shoulder (because he’s a dragon – it’s in his nature. Not because he was curious as to what Len got up to during his day trip.) There were a bunch of fruits and vegetables, a few books on witchcraft and architecture, some packs of various seeds and quite a few shiny trinkets. Very valuable shiny trinkets.

“Where’d you get all of these?” rumbled Mick, not so discreetly eyeing a few pieces of jewels. 

Len smirked at him.

“I… liberated them from their previous owners.” He said, faking nonchalance. “Pieces like these shouldn’t stay locked up collecting dust.”

Lisa grabbed a few gold jewels, pilling them up with an enthusiasm that would have made Mick mistake her for a dragon had he not known better, and to the his surprise, Len turned to him and tossed him a small silver box engraved with gold.

“It’s a lighter.” He explained. “I know you probably don’t need one but I figured you’d like it considering it can also create fire.”

Mick flipped the switch and couldn’t help but smile in glee when the tiny flame appeared. Yes, it wasn’t much compared to what he could do but it was rather ingenious. 

“It’s nice.” The dragon admitted. 

Len’s grin turned feral. 

“Glad I could… light up your day” he drawled.

Lisa rolled her eyes and Mick frowned, glaring slightly at him. But Len didn’t lose the smug expression so he swirled around, deciding to ignore it – Len would only get more cocky if he tried to respond – and climbed on his hoard to place the lighter at the top with his favourite pieces. 

Len barked out a sharp laugh at the reaction, which immediately melted any annoyance Mick felt, and turned to a large bag he had been carrying on his back. He pulled out a spinning wheel and some straw. 

“Is straw the latest fashion trend in town?” teased Mick as he watched, intrigued as to why someone would lug around straw of all things. Len rolled his eyes, a small smile lifting the corner of his lips.

“This” he explained as he started setting up “Is your payment for you hospitality”

“And the rescue!” piped up Lisa, merciless, from where she was still admiring her new jewels.

Len shrugged slightly embarrassed but not denying it and sat down on a log of wood, placing the bag of straw next to him. Lisa quickly skipped over and in a well-practiced move helped her brother wrap the straw over the spindle and install it. Then, under Mick’s awed gaze, Len made the wheel rotate and what was previously an itchy strand of straw came out as a smooth string of gold. Unable to help himself the dragon stalked forward and sank down on the floor near Lisa as she caught the gold fibre that her brother pulled out and weaved it into a neat bun. 

The first few minutes, Mick stared at the thread trying to catch the moment straw became gold but somehow he always just missed it as Len’s long fingers got in the way. So Mick shifted his gaze to these fingers and up to the hands that danced over the wheel like they had a will of their own. His eyes trailed up Len’s arms and to the man’s face. Lenny was completely absorbed in what he was doing, eyebrows pinched in a small frown as he focused entirely on the task at hand. Mick surprised himself thinking that this expression is what truly made the experience magical. 

He doesn’t notice he’s been staring at Lenny’s face for a long time until Lisa nudged him and handed him the ball of gold thread, winking at him like she’s in on a secret before showing him how to collect the thread so it doesn’t tangle up. 

)0( 

Len runs out of straw late into the night. Mick had to light up a small fire at the entrance of the cave so he could finish, creating a pool of orange light and warmth as the rest of the world slept under a dark blanket. 

Mick checked the fire was burning smoothly, purring in satisfaction as it roared gently, eating away a pile of wood, and sat down next to it, stretching his human legs in front of him. He turned to the buns of gold thread piled up in a small pyramid next to him and started admiring them again. Len finished bundling up Lisa in a nest of blanket, making sure that his sister, who had fallen asleep when he was about ¾ through with the straw, was warm and comfortable before joining Mick by the fire. 

“I weaved more than usual” he noted absentmindedly, looking at his work.

Mick only hummed in reply, feeling this wasn’t something he knew enough about to discuss. 

“With a talent like that, why bother becoming a thief?” he asked instead, curious.

“For fun.” Grinned Len “I’m good at it and I like it. No reason for me to stop!”

Mick barked out a laugh and before he could strop himself, threw an arm around Len’s shoulder. He felt Len tense up slightly at first, but he relaxed immediately after, even leaning in the half-embrace so Mick was happy to leave his arm where it was. 

“Well said, buddy, well said.” He rumbled.

Len’s grin turned mischievous.

“Yes, plus I’m sure you’re familiar with the thrill of being in the heat of the moment.”

Mick groaned and aimed a vicious poke to his ribs which Len managed to intercept, still snickering to himself. They wrestled a bit, falling to the ground in the process, until Len managed to make Mick release him with a well-aimed elbow jab in the stomach. The two settled on their backs side by side. 

After a few beats of silence, Len started talking again.

“Tell me something, Mick” he drawled without looking at him “how come you never asked for your payment?”

Ah. Now this Mick could answer honestly.

“Unlike your asshole of a father” grunted Mick, noting the slight shift in Len’s posture that told him Lewis was exactly who he had in mind “I know that magic is not just a thing you control but a force that comes from the heart.”

Mick extended an arm to touch the fire with his fingers, his skin automatically covering in small scales to protect his flesh, and he stared at the flickering colours of the flames. Len watched him quietly. 

“You can’t force it to happen if you want the best result. It’s why you made more gold tonight than when you were with your father.”

Well. Answered partly honestly. Mick had gotten distracted by having the siblings around. Besides his dragon instincts had been satisfied with having a gold-weaving human living in his cave so there was never going to be any need to ask. And fire had always been more of his thing anyways. Mick ripped his focus away from the fire and turned to the stars ahead, crossing his hands behind his head. He felt Len watch him quietly a few minutes before also turning to the sky ahead. 

“Never thought of it like that” he sighed.

Mick felt him relax. Tension he hadn’t noticed before seeping out as Len settled comfortably almost close enough to touch. He smiled quietly to himself. 

They were woken up the next morning by Lisa’s delighted laugh when she found them entangled together next to the cold ambers of the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is all written up, I'm just editing so it should be up very soon - it's where fluff officially starts yay


	2. Set my heart ablaze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio deals with some knights, Len and Mick go on their first heist together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was harder to edit than expected but I'm pretty happy with the result!
> 
> Enjoy!

Summer melted into autumn and autumn froze to winter. For some reason, the Snarts stayed even despite Mick’s tendencies to be grumpy and set things on fire. Len and Lisa progressively extend their little corner and the trio falls into a routine punctuated by Len visiting the nearest town to pull off heists. He always comes back with goodies for both Lisa and Mick, as well as with blueprints for the next one. Mick watches, fascinated, as he spends hours planning and timing his every step, his focus so similar to Mick’s when he’s looking at fire.

When the lake freezes over, Len comes back from one of his trips with 3 pairs of skates. Lisa spends her days gliding on the ice, circling around and making intricate figures like she was born with skates on. The siblings manage to convince Mick to give it a try, and the only reason he doesn’t fall flat on his face is that they let him use them as crutches. Mick hates it but tries anyways because Lisa asked and because he gets to hold Lenny close to him.

Trouble manages to find them in spring.

From what he knows of Lewis Snart, Mick really should not have been surprised that he would not let his children disappear without a fight. Of course he made it sound like it’s a fucking rescue mission and not the kidnapping it actually is (eh, Mick still takes a moment to appreciate the irony. Fuck Len is already rubbing off on him).

One day, Mick was hiding from the midday sun in his cave, lying on his back on his hoard in human form, playing with the lighter Len gave him, when he heard a shout in the distance, followed by the rapid galloping of a horse. Suddenly on high alert, he transformed back into his dragon form and burst outside, ripping through the trees and towards the noise. He was met halfway by Len running in the opposite direction and clutching Lisa tightly in his arms.

“It’s a knight” hissed Len, looking pale and shoulders tense “He tried to grab Lisa, I need to get her somewhere safe.”

His sister was putting on a brave face but her eyes were red with tears and a hand shaped bruise was quickly blossoming on her arm. Mick’s blood started to boil with anger and he strained his ears to try and locate the knight’s whereabouts.

Right on cue, a white horse soared through the trees, forcing Len to jump aside to avoid the hand that made a grab for his collar. Mick roared and blocked the path of the rider, spreading his wings to make himself even bigger and baring his teeth, growling. The knight managed to dodge him, and led his horse back to a safer distance before turning back to face him, sword pointed towards his heart.

“Back off, Monster!” he shouted. “I’m here on behalf of Lewis Snart to bring his children back to him!”

It was so pathetic Mick laughed which in this form translated into a loud thunder-like rumbling. The knight visibly deflated a bit, quickly losing his misplaced bravado, which only fired up Mick further. This was going to be fun.

Mick spat some fire at the row of trees behind the knight, blocking his escape route and crawled forward slowly. Now that the rider was obviously not a threat, he couldn’t resist to playing with him and blew a strong gust of hot air from his nostrils at the man’s face. To his delight, the knight recoiled, lost his balance and fell off his horse.

Before he could do anything further, however, Len jumped in which, ok, kind of put a bumper on Mick’s fun but the human was the one wronged so the dragon could respect that. Len kicked the sword away and finished tackling the knight to the ground, smashing the man’s head on the dirt to stun him. He grabbed the discarded weapon and pressed the tip to the man’s throat, hard enough to draw blood.

“Listen here” he spat, eyes cold and hard “you go back to my father and tell him not to send anyone else because the next person who tries will not be coming back.”

Len didn’t wait for a reply and knocked the man over the head with the hilt of his own sword. The body went limp underneath him and he got back to his feet, throwing the weapon away, looking both furious and slightly terrified. He walked back to Lisa and wrapped her in another hug, his sister clutching him like a lifeline.

“ _Mick_ ” he called.

Still chuckling to himself but slightly disappointed he didn’t get to set anyone on fire, Mick nodded and grabbed the unconscious knight. He dropped him off in the middle of the desert. Len never said anything about making it easy for the intruder after all.

)0(

More knights and even mercenaries followed, of course. Mick let Len deal with most of them but roasted all those who got within viewing distance of his cave.

He later learned from Jax, a neighbouring dragon, that Lewis promised his daughter in marriage (which, _what_ , she’s just a kid for fuck’s sake) and a good amount of gold to anyone who slayed the oh-so-dangerous-dragon and brought him both his children back. Snart senior had figured out the location of Mick’s lair partly because of the rumours of Len’s sightings in town, and partly because of the high concentration of fires in the area.

Jax also said something about Mick finally finding a mate, and _how long have you guys been bonded?_ Which no. Mick’s heard of dragons getting to a point in their lives where they became guided by the instinct to bond with a mate and raise hatchlings but that never was on option for him. Besides, he’d know it if Len was his mate. _Shut the fuck up, Jax_.

Initially, Mick was quite pleased to be so popular, but quickly it became more of a hindrance. He couldn’t stay in his cave all the time which meant his hoard was in danger of being stumbled upon by the idiots that let themselves be tempted by Lewis’ promises.

Mick had to move. Ugh.

The trio went up in the mountains to look for a suitable new cave. Well, Mick was looking. The siblings tagged along when they learned what he intended to do and just kept asking questions.

“I don’t get it, why are we moving?” asked Lisa

“I need a safe place for my hoard.” He grunted back, focused on the mountainside before him “The current one is no longer exactly secret, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Mick quite liked the opening he found near the edge of the crater. It was large enough and he always found that volcanic rock had this nice warm feeling to it –

“So… why do you stay in the same mountain? Shouldn’t you move completely?”

_Humans._

“I like _this_ mountain. It’s _my_ mountain. Besides, I just need to hide my hoard, I’ll still be using the other cave, so it needs to be close by”

Both siblings nodded their understanding. Mick was pleased to note Len seemed impressed. Mick also really liked the cave at the edge of the crater.

“Right. This one will do.” He announced. “Now, since this is all you guys’ fault, you are going to help me move, right?”

Lisa had the decency to look sheepish, but Len shrugged unapologetic, throwing a smug look his way. Mick swatted him over the head for that, growling when Len managed to duck away.

)0(

Summer arrived carrying on its back the itch to go seek a good castle to burn and loot. Mick had never gone so long without the urge to burn something to the ground before and he had his suspicions that it was due to Len and Lisa’s constant nagging for him to light various controlled fires in his human form. Unfortunately, this means that when the urge came back, it slammed into him like Lewis Snart in that tree the day Mick saved Len and the dragon was caught unaware. He became irritable, snapping at the siblings and distancing himself as he tried to decide what direction was more likely to have something that will both satisfy him and not result in a hunt party.

Len, as usual, was his saving grace.

“So… _Mick_.”

Len’s voice resonated in the cave and interrupted Mick’s sulking. When the dragon turned to face him from where he was burrowed in his pile of treasures, a cascade of coins falling to the ground as he lifted his head, Len was standing at the entrance, something rolled up under his arm.

“During my last trip to town” he started explaining, trying to make himself sound like he hadn’t planned this entire conversation beforehand, “I heard talks of a palace North West from here owned by a necromancer. The man has an underground vault with quite a few interesting treasures… unfortunately, he lives too far for me to walk there so I was wondering if you’d be interested in coming along? We’d share the spoils of course and the house is made of the appropriate materials for one of your bonfires -”

“You talk too damn much” interrupted Mick, teasing. He snickered at the other’s icy glare.

“Are you in or not?” Len snapped, his cold demeanor betrayed by a thin smile.

Mick shifted and came to stand in front of him, lips stretched in a feral grin.

“Yeah, buddy, I’m in”

)0(

They asked Lisa if she wanted to come. She took one look at the two of them standing side by side and announced she didn’t feel like third wheeling. Whatever that meant.

So Mick helped Len climb on his back and took off. Unlike the last time they flew together, Len had prepared and was bundled up in a thick coat and wore protective glasses to shield his eyes from the wind, rain and other caprices of the weather of high altitudes. Mick was free to soar through the sky, and over the top of mountains, going as high as he could without depriving Len of oxygen. They flew beyond the forest of Mick’s mountain and towards the snowy mountain pass of the North where they then headed west, following the water from its source as its flow got stronger and stronger and turned into a proper river.

As they reached the golden fields of the North West, Mick heard Len breath out in awe, overcome by the exhilarating feeling of being on top of the world, and felt him shift slightly so he could press himself closer to Mick’s back. Understanding that his rider had gained more confidence, Mick increased his speed and plunged, diving all the way until he was inches above the ground before straightening. He grinned as the whistling of the wind mixed with laughter.

When the necromancer’s residence came into view, Mick slowed down to a stop. Len jumped off, properly smiling at him as he shifted in human form in order to make himself smaller, and the two ducked into the high ears of wheat to discreetly cross the remaining distance to the mansion.

“The owner is out of the country for now, so we only need to worry about the guards and the wards” whispered Len “We go in, get the stuff and as we get out you can start burning it down.”

Mick grunted his understanding, and without further ado the duo climbed the gate, jumping to the other side and ducking behind a statue. They easily made their way inside, knocking out the guards they encountered and avoiding the traps thanks to Len’s ward-detecting spell he muttered under his breath the whole time. When they reached the vault, they had a 5 minutes window to grab the stuff before the next guard came around – plenty enough of time. Mick stood watch as Len cracked the vault door open.

Everything went to shit after that.

The vault was empty. Len cursed loudly and stepped in to search every corner, verifying there weren’t any concealing spells, but found nothing. The vault had been completely emptied – and not so long ago considering the lack of dust. Mick came in to have a look around as well and in their frustration they didn’t notice time was up. A guard barged in and caught them red-handed.

With a shout he sounded the alarm and tried to blast them with a jolt of electricity which they barely managed to dodge by dropping to the ground. Under a wooden wardrobe, Mick spotted a small ring which he pocketed immediately.

“Why the fuck are they guarding an empty vault?” hissed Len over the sound of more guards arriving and the shouts for them to show themselves.

“Never mind that” growled Mick “time to go!”

He jumped back to his feet and exhaled a strong breath of fire, forcing the guards to take cover and opening up an escape route. He ran out, Len following hot on his heels and they made it to the gardens. Len continued his dash to the gate but Mick turned on his heels, shifted back to his dragon form and set fire to the corridor they had just exited. He checked Len had jumped the fence safely before flying off, using his wings to ignite the fire further with strong gusts of wind and headed for the roof.

The heist might not have been a success but the manor was perfect, Mick was having an amazing time. The roof went up in flames like a pack of matches and the dragon laughed as the towers collapsed on themselves. Mick slipped between the crumbling foundations to roll around in the fire a bit when he noticed that a corner of the palace wasn’t burning as fast as the rest. Now this wouldn’t do. He got closer, intent on blasting it with another breath of fire when he noticed it was a fireproofed storage room. For explosives. Nice.

This was probably why there were still so many guards around. The whole place was going to blow in a few seconds now because the few precautions taken were useless against dragon fire. Mick would have loved stay and watch, the explosion promised to be glorious and would probably ignite the fields around. But. Len probably hadn’t made it out of range yet. And whilst Mick would gladly watch the world and everyone in it burn, he would prefer it if Len were there to watch it burn with him.

The decision was surprisingly easy to make. Mick left the burning mansion, scanning the area until he spotted Len standing in the field, waiting for him. At the same moment, the house exploded. Acting on instinct, Mick lunged and threw himself on top of Len, gripping the ground with his claws and wrapping his wings tightly around the both of them.

The blast barely made him shiver. Mick waited until he felt the heat surrounding him lower to take a look around. The entire field around them was completely burned but it was safe enough to let go. Mick turned human and rolled off his partner. He breathed in the ash in the air and started laughing. A stunned Len turned to look at him.

“ _Mick_ ” he growled.

“What?” replied the dragon, still laughing “How was I supposed to know he was stupid enough to keep explosives in his house?”

Len shook his head but also started chuckling lightly at Mick’s contagious glee. Mick grinned slyly.

“Plus, someone really needed to turn up the heat in there… considering the job didn’t go so hot.”

Len burst into laughter like he never had before and Mick couldn’t resist. He leaned in to press his lips to Len’s, to capture some of that sound. Len jerked slightly but before Mick could pull away he grabbed him by the back of the neck and held him close. Their lips moved against one another and Mick slid a hand against Len’s waist, making him shiver and bite Mick’s lower lip in response. Mick smiled into the kiss and pressed in closer, mingling their tongues and dragging his other hand up his partner’s shirt. Eventually, Len had to pull back for air but he kept Mick close, touching their foreheads together as he breathed in, a smug smile on the lips.

“The job did not leave me completely empty-handed it seems… I got myself a dragon” he drawled.

“I’d say it’s your most successful heist so far” Mick bragged “Here, I even managed to get you a souvenir”

He pulled out the ring he had managed to keep safe and slid it on Len’s pinkie finger.

“Really Mick?” Len teased, examining the present with a fond look on his face “I didn’t take you for the sentimental sort”

Mick barked out a laugh and jumped back to his feet, shifting back into his fire-breathing form.

“Sentimental? Nah. I’m a dragon, I like to stake claims, is all.”

Len smirked back at him and hopped on his back, hands lightly caressing the scales before hanging on properly.

“Of course you are.” He mumbled to himself. Then he raised his voice, trying to make himself sound more authoritative “Let’s go. Lisa is probably waiting.”

Mick huffed but still pushed himself off the ground. He flew up, sliding above the clouds and feeling more sated than he ever had before.

This was truly the beginning of an epic partnership

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, is a short epilogue! I'm accepting prompts if you guys have any, I'm feeling inspired to write these days :) 
> 
> Thank you all for your support!


	3. All is well that ends well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 30 years later...

Len abandoned the horse a good 2 hours walk away from his destination, confident the animal would find its way back to the nearest town, and in great need for some time to think. He entered the forest, keeping close to the trees, a trick he had learned would prevent him from being spotted from above. After a full year of separation, Len wanted to make sure he wouldn’t be taken by surprise; it was the only way to quell the nervousness churning his stomach. Apologising had never been Len’s forte, hell, it had taken an entire year for him to get around to it, but this time it was necessary. Walking out on Mick like that had not been fair, and now he only hopped it wasn’t too late because as much as he hated to admit it, he missed him terribly.

Len had to leave the cover of the trees to cross an area that had been completely burned to ashes. The scene brought a smile to his lips. He could practically feel himself getting close; the sight surrounding him was achingly familiar. That’s what you get for bonding with a dragon, Len thought, 30 years later and the sight of your partner burning everything to the ground excited him almost as much as it did Mick.

_Which makes my leaving him behind even more ridiculous_ , Len reminded himself. It had been a job gone wrong. Mick had burned down the place they were robbing too early with Len still inside. Instead of running out with is mate, however, the dragon had stayed behind, fighting against a dark phoenix fully intent on ripping his heart out. Len had been terrified. Terrified for the _both_ of them and fuck had he hated that feeling. He had shouted things he didn’t mean and regretted, and had left.

At first, he ran off to Lisa’s to sulk. His sister had left to live in the golden mountains of the south where she spent her days tormenting (flirting with) the two scientists living nearby as she tried (and succeeded) to break the secret of the philosopher stone. At first, she had been ecstatic to see him, but quickly made him pay rent by spinning her some gold when she learned the reason of his visit. She had kept him around for a month before kicking him out, t _elling him to stop pouting and go make out with Mick for fucksake_.

But Len was stubborn, so he ignored her and spent the next few months travelling around stealing various treasures. One day, however, some knight that was smarter – and faster – than all the others started messing up his plans. Len still managed to get around, but it was a bitter reminder that he was missing something – someone – at his side.

So Len decided it was time to go back, but not empty handed. He made a detour and stole a giant fire opal, Mick’s favourite gemstone. Because he could, he also stole an ice diamond and fused them together with some gold to create a one-of-a-kind jewel. An adequate gift for his mate.

Mick wasn’t in the cave he used for habitation so Len had to climb the volcano ( _well of course it’s a volcano, Lenny, I wouldn’t have just chosen some pitiful mountain!_ ) all the way to the top to the cave where Mick hid his hoard. When he finally arrived, it was completely dark except for the orange glow escaping from the opening at the edge of the crater. Len loitered at the entrance letting his eyes adjust until he could see inside properly. Mick was buried in his pile of treasures and was playing with the lighter Len had offered him 3 decades ago, gaze completely lost in the flickering flame. Len had to take a moment to collect himself, smoothing his face to a neutral look to prevent it from betraying the painful whine of _home_ his heart was making.

“Mick” he called.

Len’s smell must still have been everywhere in the cave because Mick had apparently not noticed him at all until now. The dragon’s attention snapped to him immediately, and he froze only to relax immediately when he realised who it was. Mick didn’t move and kept his gaze locked on Len, flicking his lighter on and off again as he waited quietly, giving him a silent go ahead to continue. Encouraged by this reaction, Len took a step forward.

“I know I said we were over, but things have changed.”

He pulled out his creation and held it in front of him. Mick immediately moved closer, eyes widening and shining with an interested glint that eased some of the nervousness in Len, but still held himself back some and didn’t take the present. Mick was clearly waiting to hear what Len had to say.

“I need someone with your raw power, and you just need some guidance. So… what do you say? Are you in or not?”

_I miss you, please take me back?_

Mick stared at him for a few seconds before his eyes softened and he dropped the indifferent act entirely, lips stretching in a gleeful grin that revealed rows of sharp teeth as he accepted Len’s silent apology. He was finally looking at Len like he had for the past 30 years – a fire dancing in his eyes, its intensity focused solely at Len, only for Len in a way that made his entire body shiver with pleasure. Mick took his present but only to quickly place it on the floor so he could step into Len’s personal space and wrap him in a tight hug. Len let him melt into the embrace and shamelessly breathed in Mick’s familiar smell of smoke and spices, his mate’s reply vibrating all around him.

“Yeah, buddy, you want me in, I’m in.”

They separated briefly only to lean in again and meet halfway in a kiss. Len closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Mick’s neck to bring him closer and fuse their bodies together, chasing the taste of ashes and ozone on his partner’s lips.

He was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and it's a wrap!
> 
> Thank you all for your support!

**Author's Note:**

> Protective Lisa and dragon Mick have a special place in my heart.


End file.
